The Tricksters Love
by lakotamusiclove
Summary: Piper Green is thrust into the world of the Avengers where she will work alongside them using her special ability to recognize a lie to keep a close eye on the infamous trickster god. What will happen when a love triangle, angry frost giants, and pipers hazy past comes to light? Some strong language and smut to come. Feel free to leave comments!
1. Prologue

Prologue  
Every now and again you get an opportunity that you just can't turn down, not for the money or the promise of climbing some ladder, but solely for the awe of what, or more importantly, WHO the opportunity entails. And I was presented with such an opportunity as this. Little did I, Piper Greene, an overweight fair skinned small town girl from Michigan, know what the acceptance of the opportunity would lead me to...  
I couldn't believe that I was here, Stark Tower, of all places; the home of the Avengers. I finally felt like I belonged somewhere for the first time in my life. I had always had the ability to know when someone was lying. I never thought it was a gift or something supernatural, I only thought that I was perceptive. Only a week earlier I had gotten a phone call for a strange interview, fresh out of college with a completely useless degree in vocal performance and with no job, still living with my parents at age 23, I couldn't exactly turn down the offer.  
When I showed up to the quaint coffee shop for the interview there was only one person there. She stood in her very expensive professional red dress and shook my hand. Blonde hair pulled into a flawless bun, with small rectangular black glasses sitting immaculately on the bridge of her nose, giving me a warm smile as I approached her.  
"Hello Miss Greene, I am Mr. Starks personal assistant, here to interview you. If you'll kindly sit here, we will begin."  
"Um, yes hello, ok."  
I sat down awkwardly as she handed me a pair of headphones, I looked at her questioningly as she simply looked at me expectantly.  
"If you would kindly listen to each statement, and after each one please tell me if you think its a lie or if they're telling the truth. There will be 10 audio recordings, do you understand the directions Miss Greene?"  
"Yes Ma'am, I do."  
"Excellent!" She beamed a smile at me and opened a thin white laptop in front of her.  
I placed the earbuds into my ears and listened carefully to each statement, taking notice that most of the recordings were of one voice, a husky but smooth seductive male voice; it felt like a sweet poisonous syrup to my ears. Most of what this man said was a lie, apart from one statement. After I was finished, I removed the headphones and smiled at her nervously; after a bit of typing she smiled at me.  
"After Mr. Stark reviews-" She was interrupted by her phone ringing and she excused herself to take the call, stepping out of hearing range across the shop.  
I grew increasingly more nervous as she looked over and smiled at me casually. She started to walk back and after she said a quick 'Yes sir' she hung up and stood in front of me with her hands clasped around her phone gently.  
"Miss Greene, if you would kindly accompany me to see Mr. Stark."  
I couldn't help but be speechless and just stare at her for a few moments longer than was necessary before responding in a jumbled mess of 'yes's and 'sure's. I followed her to a very sleek black car, where her and I both climbed in back and rode in silence to a private air strip just outside of my hometown.  
As i got out of the car, I looked up to see none other than the infamous Tony Stark coming down the stairs of his private jet. I was now a giant mess of nerves as he looked up to see me with a smirk.  
"Lie Detector! I've been itching to meet you!" He said with a firm shake of my hand and a clap on my shoulder.  
"I'm going to cut right to the chase here, Pip, I need you on my team. The Avengers team that is. Whaddya say?  
I felt like I was going to either faint or throw up, and I silently prayed it was NOT the latter of the two.  
"Wait, what? Why?"  
He chuckled lightly and put an arm around my shoulders as he led me away from the jet and his assistant slowly.  
"Well we've recently had a new wrench thrown into our not so well oiled gears by the name of Loki, I'm sure you've heard of him, he tried to take over the planet and destroyed New York, yadda yadda, and apparently his punishment was to stay here on earth and work with us to try to atone for his actions. We need someone to keep an eye on him, someone who can tell if he is lying or not, because obviously he cant be trusted. And you, Pip are like some crazy human lie detector. I need you on this. You in?"  
My god this man could talk. And before I knew what I was saying...  
"Yes...I can totally do that. No problem"  
"Awesome! My assistant here will take you back to your place where you can pack up and meet me back here at the Jet. One hour!"  
Stark walked away with a confident stride and got into a sports car and sped off, leaving me there on the air strip wondering what the hell I had just gotten myself into...


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter One  
I sat in the jet awkwardly as I attempted to contemplate the colossal decision I had just made, but was quickly interrupted by Tony plopping into the seat next to me with a short sigh.  
"You're looking a little white there, lie detector. Afraid of flying?"  
I could already sense how much Tony was going to get on my nerves, but seeing as how he was being very nice to offer me this job, I figured I'd be nice back.  
"No, Mr. Stark, not at all. I actually prefer flying over other modes of transportation."  
"Hey, me too." he replied with a knowing grin on his face.  
"That reminds me, how did you get to Michigan so fast? You're not exactly a 5 minute flight away."  
That's when he let out a chuckle I knew he had been hiding as he got up from his seat and walked to the back of the small jet to pull aside the curtain to reveal the huge red and gold mass of metal on display. The Iron Man suit looked much bigger than I expected it to, Tony wasn't exactly a large man, but the suit was huge.  
"Cool, right?" Tony eyed me, fully expecting me to fawn over the suit, I couldn't stop the bit of sarcasm from dripping out of my mouth.  
"Its much bigger than I thought it would be."  
Silently kicking myself for the comment, Tony sat back down next to me and gave me a comforting smile.  
"I like that you're not one of those women who get all excited because you're around someone who has saved a few people. Most females get all teary-eyed and ridiculous when they're around all the Avengers, sometimes its a bit annoying; even for Thor. The dude doesn't even go outside when he goes home anymore. He goes to the roof, but at least there the gardener doesn't have to keep relaying grass over the spots where the Bifrost burns the ground." He chuckled a bit at the statement he made, and I was very surprised that he let a little of his true personality show.  
"I'm a bit nervous, Mr. Stark, that's why I'm a little whiter than normal."  
"Call me Tony, please, and Pip trust me when I say you have nothing to be worried about. Everyone will like you, unless you give them a reason not to. Speaking of that, we're pulling up on the tower, so pull yourself together so you can meet the family. Make sure you watch your language around dad, he's a little old-fashioned."  
He stood and gave me a wink before heading to the front of the jet, while I was left there to compile my thoughts and nerves back into my body. I felt the jet lower to the ground so I ran into the bathroom to make sure my hair and makeup were perfect. Stepping out of the bathroom, I grabbed my purse as Tony reemerged from the front and opened the door of the jet, as someone else on the outside lowered the stairs.  
"Ladies first, Pip. Don't be shy."  
"Yah, that's easy for you to say, Tony."  
I stepped down the stairs carefully until I touched the ground, and looked up to see a group of people just standing a few yards in front of me. That's when it happened, the immaculate first impression that I knew I was bound to make, I tripped. In front of everybody, I tripped. Being positive that I was going to hit the ground I didn't even attempt to catch myself, I had accepted my fate. That is, until I felt a strong arm catch me just inches from the ground, and flip me gently but quickly so I was facing up with very wide blue eyes and very red cheeks.  
"Nice catch, Cap. You alright, Pip?"  
I was broken, I couldn't speak, or move. Behind the embarrassment I was beyond horrified that my face was inches away from the face of Steve Rodgers; and his eyes were searching mine, waiting for the answer to Tony's question.  
All i could manage was a short nod and I struggled to be upright again as I stood back on my own two feet, to face the rest of the 'family' as Tony put it.  
"Um, yah. Hey, I'm Piper Greene. Nice to meet all of you." I looked at each face carefully, trying not to linger on one. Steve, Tony, Natasha, Wanda, Vision, and a bouncing Peter Parker on the end. I looked behind them into the building to see if the rest of them were hiding in there somewhere.  
As they all introduced themselves and we got through the first introductions, Wanda seemed to notice my awkward uncomfortable body language and offered to show me to my room. I accepted gratefully and walked with her through the building.  
"Do not worry about trying to fit in here, nobody does. None of us are alike and that's what makes us a family. You'll just be the brand new baby sister for a while, like I was."  
"Thank you, although I don't feel like I belong here. I'm not exactly someone special, I don't have powers and neither am I super smart. I'm just a babysitter for a Norse God I guess."  
Wanda giggled and smiled at me gently as she placed her hand in mine.  
"Piper, you are so much more than that. Did Tony tell you that's all we wanted you for? To 'babysit' Loki?" I nodded in response with a blank expression and she mumbled something angrily in her thick native tongue before continuing to take me to my room. She stopped at the door, handing me my key.  
"Your things have already been brought to your room. Dinner is in two hours." She smiled and hugged me tightly and I hugged her back, grateful that I had made a friend already.  
"Thank you Wanda." I smiled at her and went to unlock my door.  
"Piper, if you need anything my room is in the hall across from the main room, room 5. My door is always open to you." She gave a quick smile and started to walk away but then stopped and looked over her shoulder with a smirk.  
"Be careful of the neighbor to your right, he can be a little trickster at times, and he's more than a little moody."  
I looked at the room to my right and I knew the color had gone from my face. Oh no. They put me next to Loki. This was going to be interesting.

I stepped out of the shower and began to dry my long blue and black hair as I allowed the rest of my body to air dry. I walked out of the bathroom to start to unpack and pull out my clothes for dinner, when I noticed a garment bag hanging off of my previously untouched wardrobe. I scanned the rather large room around me for any other sign that someone had intruded upon my privacy. The fireplace was clean and quite beautiful, with the dark stone surrounding the mouth. I made a mental note to use that fireplace tonight. The couch in front of it was a soft black material with a deep blue throw across the back. The bed was huge. Sitting directly across the room from the fireplace the ginormous four-post, king size, bed was easily the most expensive thing in this room. Made from real mahogany wood. Deep blue curtains wound their way around each post elegantly with a very comfortable looking black and white bed set. As excited as I was about living and working with the Avengers, this was by far the most exciting thing about this situation to me.  
Being satisfied that there was nobody else in the room, I walked over to the garment bag to look inside, but gratefully there was a note pinned to the outside of the bag.  
'Piper, Tony decided on a small cocktail party with a snack buffet instead of a cramped dinner. But just as a warning, Tony does nothing small. I hope you don't mind but I took the liberty of buying this for you this afternoon before you arrived. My number is on the back of this card, give me a ring if you need help.  
-Nat'  
I was surprised and a bit taken aback that Tony would throw me into a party on my first night. I carefully unzipped the bag to find a cascade of black satin. I pulled out the form fitting dress and looked at the front, not too bad, thick shoulder straps, sweetheart neckline, not too low cut. Then I turned it over, to see the utter lack of a back on the dress. I immediately pulled off the card and called Natasha.

"It can't be that bad, Piper, just come out. Let us have a look and we will tell you what we think"  
Natasha and Wanda were both out sitting on the edge of the bed facing my bathroom door, waiting for me to come out. They had been ludicrously insistent that I at least try on the revealing dress. Wanda had even went out to quickly buy a body shaper for my comfort. I still felt like a total fool.  
"Ugh, fine."  
With a deep breath I stepped out of the bathroom with my eyes closed, not wanting to witness the horror of their expressions. All I heard were gasps. I opened one eye to look and they both looked at me with huge eyes and big smiles.  
"Piper, you look gorgeous!" Wanda mused over me as she played with the long skirt on my dress and fluffed the bottom out around me.  
"I knew you'd look good in it." Nat said with a light smile, as she sat on the bed.  
"Have you even looked in the mirror?!"  
"Oh my god, Wanda, no! I can barely look down at myself in this dress, let alone the mirror!"  
"Well in that case, I'd say we get to have a little fun with this. Wanda, how about you go get dressed, then on the way back here, could you please grab my makeup case from my room? Its unlocked. I'll handle the hair."  
I was officially terrified of these women. I had never had someone else do my hair or makeup. I was fine on doing it myself, but I was too afraid to say so. I gave in reluctantly as Natasha quietly began to work on my hair. After a short while she had my hair pulled up onto the top of my head with small ringlet curls cascading down around my face.  
"There. All done." She smiled and I looked up curiously.  
"You know, even though I know what you did to my hair, I'd still like to look at it for myself."  
"Tough cookies, lady." I giggled at her as Wanda came back into my room with the makeup case. Before setting it down she gave us a twirl and we both admired her beautiful glittery dark red dress. Her hair was down but with subtle curl and her makeup was flawless.  
"Wanda you are beautiful! Do we always dress like this for one of Tony's cocktail parties?"  
"Oh no, dear. The elegance is for you. We all wanted it to be extra special. Black tie event to welcome the little sister." Wanda gave me a wink at her new nickname for me as she opened the case and began to pull out brushes and makeup of various varieties.  
"Oh joy." I mumbled under my breath.  
Natasha walked out of the room after telling us she'd be back shortly, and left us to finish my makeup. I was very curious as to what I'd come out looking like. Even more so I was curious to what all the men would look like in their black tie suites. I couldn't imagine seeing Vision in an expensive suit, and tried to conjure an image of it only to giggle and receive a scolding from Wanda to sit still. My mind drifted after that, trying to think about my job here and when I would get to meet Loki.  
"Hey, Wanda? Is Loki going to be at the party?"  
"He usually is for an hour or so. Doesn't stay long on account of how much he dislikes everybody here," She chuckled a little with a roll of her eyes. "but we are sort of hoping that you could change that."  
I let my mind wander again to try and imagine what he'd look like up close. He probably looked angry all the time and had absolutely no sophistication whatsoever.  
Nat walked back in with a mid calf length simple form fitting black dress with a pair of deep red heels. Hair still in her normal short curl fashion, and makeup unchanged. She held up a pair of thin black strappy heels and smiled.  
"Piper, I found you some shoes."  
"Uh, oh."  
"Oh hush and put them on. Wanda, I see you've finished. This is your best work yet; a masterpiece." I scowled while Nat and Wanda just smiled at me.  
"Can I go look now?" I pulled on the heels and stood awkwardly.  
"Yes, yes, yes, go look miss impatient."  
I walked over to the full length mirror sitting between my bed and my wardrobe and I didn't recognize the woman staring back at me. The hair was more intricate than Natasha let on, with small diamonds spotted throughout the mass of blue and black on top of my head, each curl looking perfect without frizz or tangle. My eyes, framed with a smoky emerald green and long black eyelashes, the green eyeshadow made my eyes a bright green. My lips were framed with black but faded quickly to a rich purple. Each feature on my face more defined and soft all at the same time. The dress hugged each curve of my oversized frame in a good way, my bare arms looked even more pale against the deep black satin. My hips were hugged gently and a slit formed at the bottom of the dress, revealing my right leg all the way up to mid thigh, the bottom of the dress fanning out gently. I turned to glance at the daring back to find that it wasn't nearly as bad as i had thought. The back of the dress plunged down to just under the middle of my back, giving me a very classic feeling. I turned to smile at the girls and they beamed back at me proudly.  
"Alright. Lets go give all the men a heart attack." Nat chuckled.  
As we walked out of the room Natasha and Wanda took a place on each side of me. Walking toward the main room where the party was already in full swing I could hear gentle music and men talking, laughing, drinking. We stopped at the entrance to the room and I couldn't keep myself from looking down as we stood there silently. Wanda gently squeezed my arm and I looked up reluctantly to see that the room had gone silent and every pair of eyes were on me. I blushed a deep red and looked around the room to see faces I already knew. Tony, smiling at me giving me a big brother type of vibe. Vision, with the same blank indifferent look as he had earlier when I met him. Peter, His face glowing like he was a star-struck child. Then faces I hadn't met but could only be Thor and Bruce. I smiled at each one as I continued to scan the room until my eyes were captured by one man I hadn't met nor did I recognize.  
He wore a suit that screamed dangerous power, black on black. Long black hair that fell just over his shoulders, framing his chiseled face and bright green eyes. Eyes that were locked with mine, mercilessly pinning me to the spot I was in. I knew who that had to be the moment our eyes locked.  
Loki.


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter Two  
Snapping fingers in front of my face brought me back to attention from the unnatural dream state I had been thrown into.  
"Earth to Piper, snap out of it."  
"Sorry Nat, I'm ok."  
Wanda laughed lightly as she leaned in to whisper in my ear,  
"Good, because it looks like Steve is about to come and talk with you."  
I looked up to see Steve Rogers start to walk in my direction, champagne in hand. Looking at his face, there was a small shyness about his eyes that seemed out of place on such a strong man like him. I turned to look to Natasha to ask her something when I noticed she had slinked to the opposite side of the room to talk to a small group of guests. I turned to my other side to find that Wanda too had abandon me to go stand by Vision in front of the window; traitors.  
"Piper, you look fantastic tonight, I hope the party wasn't too short notice."  
Dumbstruck, I just stared up at him, noticing things I hadn't noticed earlier when he saved me from falling face first onto the pavement. I only came up to his chest at most, but then again I was wearing heels at the moment. He was very tall, surprisingly tall at that, so I had to crane my neck almost all the way back to get a good look at his face, his blue eyes has just the tiniest specks of bright green in them. There was not a single inch of this man that didn't have well defined muscle, and I wasn't sure if that made him intimidating or handsome. That's when I noticed exactly how close we were standing to each other. Thankful that the rest of the room had turned their attention back to their own conversations, I took a small step back and cleared my throat, preparing to speak.  
"Actually it was, but luckily I've already made some friends who were willing to do all the work needed to turn me into this current freak of nature."  
I laughed nervously at my own sudden uncomfortableness, as he slightly scowled down at me.  
"You shouldn't say those things about yourself, you have a natural beauty that not many women do."  
Looking up at him in surprise I blushed slightly but then retracted away when I noticed the look of embarrassment on his face as he excused himself and walked away quietly back to the bar in the corner of the room. Left to myself, I decided to walk to the snack table where a rather large bowl of strawberries were calling my name. A waiter passed by me with a tray full of glasses of champagne and offered me one.  
"I don't suppose you have any pink moscato, do you?"  
A little taken back by my whispered question he smiled gently and gave a short nod before walking to the bar and coming back to me with a beautiful glass of pink moscato. After thanking him I returned to the table where I picked up a strawberry and took a bite of the sweet red fruit. Turning, I scanned the room looking to each of my new friends and found myself searching for one person in particular. Taking a sip of my moscato I turned slightly to my left to find a tall, thin wall of black standing no more than a foot away from me. Startled, I jumped slightly and gasped.  
"I didn't mean to frighten you, I apologize."  
"N-no its perfectly fine, you didn't scare me at all."  
A throaty chuckle escaped him as he turned and walked a little closer to stand directly in front of me.  
"I am Loki, of Asguard. Pleasure to meet you."  
"Piper."  
I swallowed hard, my mouth feeling dry as my name fell from my lips. His eyes were doing it again, freezing me to where I stood. His thin lips curved into a slight smile as if he were doing it on purpose, his deep emerald eyes still not leaving mine even for a moment. I suddenly felt very light headed and weak, but as quickly as the feeling came on it was gone, thanks to a booming voice belonging to a mountain of muscle with long blonde hair approaching us.  
"Ahh, brother! I see you've met Piper, your new babysitter! Piper, I am Thor, son of Odin. Pleasure to make your acquaintance."  
I smiled gratefully at Thor and glanced back up at Loki to see an anger in his eyes, an anger that was directed right at me.  
"This puny human is to babysit me? This frail thing?! I am a god, and I need no mortal to think they can have any power over me whatsoever!"  
I was so taken back by his insults and anger that my eyes began to water with fear.  
"I don't think that I have any power over you at all, I'm only here to-"  
"You're here to follow me around and make sure I don't do anything to further displease my father, correct?! You're here to watch me as though I were a child! I don't need you or anyone else in this wretched realm of yours!"  
With that last insult Loki stormed out of the room, and down the hallway towards our rooms. I knew that his last statement was a lie, he said he didn't need anybody. That wasn't true in the slightest. He did need someone, he needed someone badly; and that realization only made my tears fall quicker. Quickly excusing myself from the room, leaving Thor with an apology, I made my way to my room to let out my emotion and get into my comfortable clothes so I would feel less alone.  
Just as I got to my door I tried to turn the handle but found it locked. With a frustrated sob I jiggled the handle harder, when suddenly the door opened so quickly that I fell forward, right into Loki's arms.  
"What are you-"  
I could feel the anger in him dissipate as he caught me, and froze. I myself couldn't move nor could I stop my sobs. I couldn't even stop long enough to apologize and explain. Suddenly I was cradled in his arms and he was carrying me to my room silently. Once in my room he set me on the couch and wrapped the throw around my shivering shoulders. Bending over in front of the fireplace he started a small fire and added a few logs to the flame before turning and removing my shoes from my feet. He still hadn't spoke to me and my crying was slowing to just silent tears falling down my cheek. His face was blank until he looked up at me and into my eyes, that's when a look of sorrow filled his face. After searching each others gaze for a couple moments he stood silently then turned to leave.  
"Wait."  
He froze in his spot without turning.  
"Thank you...but...why?"  
He turned so I could only see the side of his face from the light of the fire and took a couple deep breaths before answering my question.  
"You remind me of my mother. Don't expect it to happen again."  
And with that he left me there to myself.

I was awakened by a soft knock at the door. I sat up on the couch, realizing I had fallen asleep there. I wasn't sure how long I had been asleep for but judging by the embers in the fireplace it had been at least a couple hours.  
"Who is it?"  
"Its me, Wanda"  
"Come on in"  
Wanda opened the door slowly and walked in cautiously in a pair of pajama pants and tank top as I threw a log onto the embers and poked around till the flames started back up. She came over to sit on the couch setting a tray on the table in front of her with two mugs, a tea kettle, and a glass jar.  
"You should change, get comfortable."  
With a small smile I agreed immediately.  
"Planned on it."  
After pulling on some pajamas, taking out my long black and blue hair, and washing off all of my makeup I got to feeling like myself again and I joined Wanda on the couch with a light sigh.  
"Loki went back to the party and told Natasha what happened. He seemed different, like he cared. Know anything about that?"  
After a brief pause I looked to the flames as I answered her.  
"He said I reminded him of his mother."  
"Well that is interesting...Thor talks about their mother, Frigga, all the time but Loki has never mentioned her once. He even goes so far as to leave the room when the subject of mothers is brought up. According to Thor, Loki was extremely close to their mother."  
"What happened to her?"  
Wanda looked down for a moment and began to fidget around with the cups on the tray, pouring hot water into each one, then spooning a brown powder into each cup and mixing it into the water.  
"She died."  
She handed me a cup of hot cocoa and took the other in her own hands as we both curled up on the couch facing each other in silence. My mind began to recall the sadness I saw in Loki's eyes when he looked up at me earlier. I didn't understand the pain in his expression until that moment. I wasn't going to pry into how she died, feeling like doing so would be inappropriate. I would find out in time, hopefully. I felt the longing for friendship that Loki had deep inside him.  
"I felt him lie earlier."  
Her eyes shifted onto me, her interest peaked.  
"It wasn't a big lie, nothing important to most people. Something very few people would think is important actually. I'm not sure anyone other than Thor would think it was pertinent."  
She eyed my curiously, trying to think of what I could possibly be referring.  
"What did he lie about, Piper?"  
"He said he didn't need anyone in this wretched realm of ours. He lied, I felt it. He does need someone. He just doesn't know it, at least I don't think he does."  
I drank the last of my cocoa, then stretched, feeling a grumble in my stomach.  
"Did you even eat earlier?"  
Sheepishly grinning I shrugged my shoulders.  
"I think I ate a strawberry?"  
"You can take your butt to the kitchen and get something to eat. I, however, am going to bed."  
"Yes ma'am"  
We both giggled as we loaded the tray back up and headed out the door to the hallway. It was a little colder in the hallway than it had been in my room, making me regret wearing a tank top. Hopefully nobody else would be awake. Since I figured I'd only be gone for a couple minutes, I left my door open and headed for the kitchen.  
I looked in the fridge and settled for a small plate of fruits, crackers, and cheese. I grabbed a bottle of water and shut the fridge door. My mind drifted to my encounter with Steve earlier this evening at the party. He was handsome, maybe more than handsome. He was well known for being kind and courageous and a part of me felt bad for how our conversation ended earlier. As I rounded the corner out of the kitchen I practically ran into a wall of hard flesh and fell right onto my backside as my plate clattered to the floor.  
"Piper! Are you ok?"  
Steve leaned over me, taking my hand in his and pulled me up to my feet.  
"Steve, you scared me!"  
I got down on my knees to pick up the spilled food and he leaned over to help. After it was all thrown away he turned to face me and that's when I noticed his absence of a shirt and looked away with a light blush.  
"Did you not get any dinner?"  
"No, I left before I could sadly. The party was a bit too much for me."  
"Oh, well here I'll fix you something. Do you like sandwiches?"  
"No, no, no, it's ok I'll just get more fruit and what not."  
I walked over to the fridge again and opened the door just to have it closed again.  
"I insist. Its the least I can do for scaring you, not to mention I need to make amends for my actions at the party. I'm sorry for the way I acted."  
I was surprised by his apology and wasn't quite sure what to say at first.  
"No you're fine, there's nothing to apologize for."  
I silently watched him as he made me a delicious looking ham sandwich, wondering how on earth he wasn't cold. In fact he looked really warm.  
"Hey Steve?"  
"Yeah, Piper?"  
"Aren't you... you know...cold?"  
He chuckled and looked down with a slight blush to his cheeks.  
"When I went through the, well...the change that I did, it changed a lot of things about my body, one of the things is that now I'm little warmer than normal people are. Here, feel."  
He walked over to me and took my hand and pressed it flat against his chest. I felt the warmth radiate from his skin and wow he was right, he was really hot. I giggled and pulled my hand back slowly.  
"Wow you're right. You're really hot."  
Steve and I both laughed awkwardly for a moment before he handed me the sandwich and sat next to me with one of his own. We ate quickly and made small talk about how the party went and how I got my dress. After we had both finished our food he grabbed us each a bottle of water and we both went off to our rooms.  
I walked back into my room and closed the door behind me. Taking a long swig of my water I set it on the table in front of the couch. That's when I felt it, something or someone was watching me. Someone else was in my room, was it this cold when I left? No, I remember leaving the fire going to keep it nice and warm. I was too afraid to say anything so instead I slowly started to turn, until I was stopped short by a large cold hand reaching around and covering my mouth and muffling my scream. Kicking back against the intruder, I tried my hardest to get free or at least get my mouth free so I could scream. I felt my heel connect once, making whoever it was grunt in pain; That's when the pain in the back of my head came.  
Then darkness.


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter Three  
Loki was laying in his bed staring at the fire raging in the hearth, feeling unbearably exhausted. Why did she have to remind him of Frigga? It made it so much harder for him to try and hate her, but he hated himself even more for being so drawn to her from the moment he laid eyes on her. Her skin was the color of rich ivory and her hair reminded him of the night sky. He knew he should not have used his magic on her the way he did but he wanted her attention, he wanted to be the only one to have her gaze. He had felt selfish with her and he didn't like the way being around her was making him feel.  
No matter her beauty or the way he was drawn to her, she was here to spy on him, loom over every one of his actions like he was a child. Damn Odin for all of this.  
As he lay there, in his green silk sleep pants he heard a loud grunt from Pipers room followed by a painful thump. For a split second Loki contemplated staying in his room, ignoring the noises and Piper all together, but he still found himself bounding from the bed to make sure she was alright. As he burst through the door into black darkness he formed a ball of light in his hand and threw it to the ceiling to illuminate the room. The room looked empty at first until he saw Piper laying on the floor in front of her bed, unmoving. He rushed to her side and rolled her to her back, to find that her skin was a soft shade of blue. He touched his hand to her cheek and his hand changed to match her skin tone.  
No, it couldn't be...she was a Frost Giant?  
He picked her up and carried her to her bed, laying her there and covering her with her blanket and walking over to start up the fire for the second time that night. He turned to look at her and watched her silently, not sure what he was going to do. Does he leave and let her sleep or does he try to wake her? Her skin was fading back to her normal ivory tone as he walked over to sit on the side of her bed and he leaned over her to watch her closely, when her eyes began to flutter open.  
He sat up and let her gather herself as her eyes settled onto his face in surprise.  
"What happened?"  
"You tell me. Are you a frost giant?"  
Her eyes narrowed in confusion and she shook her head slowly as she sat up in her bed.  
"What's a frost giant? Why are you in my room, and where are your clothes?!"  
She obviously had no idea what happened or what she was, if she did she wouldn't be so easily distracted by him being there. Her inquiry of his clothing raised a suspicious part of his mind to the surface.  
"Does me being without a shirt bother you?"  
She was obviously trying not to look at him and that only made him more curious of what she was and it made him want her attention more. Loki was playing a dangerous game, but he couldn't stop himself as he leaned in so their faces were mere inches apart and he searched her eyes as deeply as he could possibly manage until she shut them tightly and turned her head.  
"Open your eyes, Piper" he whispered to her.  
"Why should I? You seem to dislike who I am and why I'm here." She raised her eyes defiantly to him only to soften as soon as they met his own eyes.  
They changed color like swirling stardust, blue to gray to green and back again.  
"What are you? And why do you have power over me?"  
Her eyes widened in surprise and she backed away from him as if she were afraid.  
"I don't know what game you're playing Loki but I don't have any power. Not over anyone, especially you."  
Her tone was defiant but there was something else in her voice that made his heart tighten. This was getting ridiculous, why she could illicit such reactions from him was beyond his knowledge and it made him angry and confused. He fixed his gaze upon her face calmly and narrowed his eyes, making a final decision. He would find out what she was and then he would know how to deal with her accordingly. Amid his scheming he noticed her rub the back of her head and wince in pain.  
"What's wrong?"  
He got off the bed and walked around to stand behind her. He raised his hands to her hair and parted it to see a small bloody wound dampening her hair. She needed some real first aid, not the magic he could do. However, he didn't want her being touched by any of the others. There was a first aid kit in Bruce's lab that he could use.  
"Well? What's wrong with my head?"  
With a short snicker, Loki let her hair fall back into place and held his hand out to her.  
"You've got a small cut on the back of your head. You might have a concussion, let me help you to the lab. I'll fix you right up."  
Piper scoffed at him defiantly.  
"I don't need your help, Loki. I can stand and walk just fine on my own."  
As she was spitting her words at him she stood from the bed and took no more than one full step before her knees gave way from under her and her vision darkened, causing her to start what she knew would be a painful fall. She closed her eyes, not wanting to see the ground move towards her. She waited for the impact that never came, until she opened her eyes to see the ceiling of the hallway moving above her. She lifted her head slowly and came to the realization that she was being carried.  
"I'm glad you're awake, I was starting to think I'd have to wake you in other ways." Loki's words sounded like pure silk leaving his lips.  
Piper blushed a deep red and decided it best to ignore his jokes.  
"Why are you carrying me? I can walk myself, put me down please."  
"If I set you on your own two feet you may black out again, so I'm carrying you to the lab to clean up your wound and keep an eye on you."  
"Keep an eye on me? what am I, 6?"  
"Just shut up and do what I say."  
Loki walked them into Banner's massive lab and set her on the edge of a metal table in the center of the room before walking over to a counter and grabbing the first aid kit. Silently he walked over and stood behind her on the opposite side of the table. He gently lifted her hair again and asked her to hold the hair in place. Piper winced as he dabbed the drying blood away from her wound to reveal a small cut only an inch long and not deep at all. Swallowing hard in relief he cleaned the cut and told her when he was done.  
"Now can I go back to my room?"  
He stood across the room from her, leaning coolly against the counter deep in thought. She took a moment to look at him and was reminded yet again of his lack of clothing. He only wore deep green silk sleep pants that draped dangerously low on his narrow hips. He was smooth, pale, and surprisingly well built. In comparison to the other Avenger men he was lean and a bit lanky looking, but standing alone she could fully see how lean and macular he was. No bulging bumps where each muscle was, but long beautiful lines. Heat rose in her cheeks and a coil began in her stomach as she watched him stand up straight and walk over to her slowly. Each step moving the muscles in his hips and core hypnotically.  
"Piper?"  
She snapped back to reality with a deep red face and mild confusion as she realized he must have said something to her but she had no clue what it was that he had said.  
"Hm? I mean, yah? I mean...yes?"  
He eyed her for a moment a bit confused as to what had her mind so busy that she hadn't caught a single word of what he said. Surely she had to have some kind of snarky remark or at least an offended argument.  
"I said no, you can't go back to your room, you're coming back to mine instead."  
"Excuse me?!"  
Ahhhh there it is, she finally caught up.  
"I am not going back to your room with you, are you insane?! You hate me!"  
"I don't hate you, and besides somebody just attacked you in your room. There's no way I'm letting you go back into that room until the others have looked it over tomorrow."  
"The others? No, you're not telling anyone about tonight, I'll be so embarrassed, I'll just say I fell and- wait what?"  
"What?"  
"You don't hate me? That doesn't sound right. You definitely hate me. Plus you'd lie and say you hated me even if you didn't hate me."  
"No, Piper, I don't hate you. Use your powers if you must but listen to my words and believe them. I don't hate you."  
Piper eyed him suspiciously.  
"Why are you being so honest? This isn't the real you, because if this was the real you they would have no need for me and I wouldn't be here."  
"There is a huge difference between the real me and the normal me; and what's the point in lying to you if you can tell whenever I say a lie?"  
"If you're being so honest with me...then tell me, why are you being so nice to me all the sudden?"  
Loki looked down to the floor and took in a deep breath, she was really pushing at his boundaries asking this but he might as well give her this small insight to him. She did ask pointedly enough. He took a step closer to her and was only barely a foot from her when he looked deeply into her eyes and sighed heavily in defeat. Those eyes were going to be trouble for him, he could already tell.  
"As I said before, you remind me of my mother. You have a fire deep inside of you that you aren't fully aware of yet but I know it's there. you also have this power over me that I can't explain and I don't like it. It makes me feel things that I've had closed off for a long time for many reasons."  
Piper stared up at him in surprise and confusion, not sure of what he was saying. Her face heated up again and this time it stayed because she looked him in the eyes and knew he wasn't lying. But she still felt a huge amount of anger from him towards her. Anger, confusion, and wonder. She swallowed hard and looked away from him, not sure what to say.  
"Come now, you can have my bed, I'll sleep on the couch."  
He leaned down and picked her up again and carried her bridal style back towards his room. She stared up at him in silence thinking that it was best not to argue him carrying her, she would just let it go this one time so that she could have a chance to study the features of his face up close. His strong jaw line, pronounced cheek bones, thin lips pressed into a firm line, and a slight scowl in his forehead. She closed her eyed and focused her mind on him.  
Embarrassed.  
He felt embarrassed? She looked up at him in slight shock and he just continued to stare forward, ignoring her. She would stay silent until absolutely necessary. Studying his features once again she looked at his hair. Raven black and it looked so soft, she fought the urge to run her fingers through it and her hand twitched causing her fingers to brush against his chest lightly. He felt warm, like a blanket of heat surrounded her through him.  
Next thing she knew they were in his room, it was dark except for the small flame in his fireplace. He laid her down gently in his bed, avoiding eye contact and pulling the black silk sheet up for her before turning away and with the wave of a hand, magically turning the couch to face the bed and another set of black silk pillows and a black silk sheet appeared there for him.  
"Thank you, Loki"  
He stopped frozen in his tracks, surprised by the compliance and the fear in her voice just then. She had been through quite a lot that night. He fought the inexplicable urge to turn and climb in next to her and hold her.  
"You're welcome, Piper...goodnight."  
She laid down and covered with the silk sheet, and before she knew it she was asleep.

Loki sat in the dark waiting for Piper to be deep asleep so he could leave. He knew how upset she would be knowing he told the others about the incident in her room but they needed to know. No matter his feelings or lack there of toward her they needed to know if intruders were getting into the tower and attacking them.  
After about 30 minutes he decided it would be safe to get up and go take a look at her room to see if there was anything that could give an idea to who attacked her. As he pulled aside his sheet and stood he glanced over at the sleeping woman in his bed to see her curled into a ball and remembered an article he read from a book on mortal sleeping habits that people who sleep like this tend to be very insecure and often shut themselves off from the world. It made him wonder what things went on inside her mind and he made the decision to take a secret look one of these nights that she was dead asleep to the world.  
He waved his hand and made a small doorway from his room to hers and stepped through into the darkness of her room. With a snap of his fingers he started a raging fire in the fireplace and looked around the room slowly, taking the time to look in every corner and crevasse. He glanced into her wardrobe and caught a glimpse of the gown that Piper wore at the party.  
The waterfall of black satin that was the perfect contrast to her skin, making her pale skin almost glow. the view of her across the room almost stole his complete attention away from his silent brooding. He had immediately wanted to steal her attention from the room and the moment he saw that self righteous, star spangled idiot speak to her he had seethed with anger. Of course that was before he knew who she was and why she was here in the first place. After his oaf of a brother spilled who she was he had hated the mere thought of her and he still hated that she reminded him of his mother. Because of that he was unable to stay away from her, unable to make himself hate her.  
Loki shook the fog from his head and in doing so he caught a glimpse of the mirror next to her wardrobe, more specifically the frost that covered the upper right hand corner of the mirror. He walked over to the mirror and grazed his finger over the frost and jerked his hand back the moment his hand began to turn blue reminding him of his true parentage.  
"Frost giants?"  
His mind went a mile a second trying to think of any reason why a frost giant would attack Piper, and how she got it to leave.  
"Not good"  
Loki appeared a simple green t-shirt and black jeans on his body before walking out of her room and walking straight to Thor's room, knowing he was the only one that would listen to him and who wouldn't mock him for his worry over this woman who had been assigned to keep an eye over him. He knocked on Thor's door and within moments it opened to reveal his tall blond brother scratching at his head groggily.  
"Loki do you not care of the time when you think to wake me?"  
"I'm sorry brother but we must talk. Piper was attacked tonight by a frost giant."  
Thor woke quickly after hearing the urgency in Loki's voice and especially due to the topic, he hurried Loki into the room and shut the door behind him.  
"Brother if this is a joke I will throw you from that window."  
"This is no joke, I heard noises from her room and when I went to see if she was alright she was unconscious on the floor. Upon inspecting her room after I cared for her, I noticed a frost burn on her mirror."  
"Care for her? How exactly did you care for her, Loki?  
Loki quickly realized that he had opened a door to a conversation that he was wanting to avoid having.  
"I simply dressed a wound on her head and put her to bed, that's all. The thing we should be focusing on is why a frost giant tried to attack a lowly mortal."  
Secretly hoping that his use of the cold descriptive towards Piper would assure his giant oaf of a brother that he still only saw the girl as no more than the annoying mortal that was assigned to babysit him. He watched Thor walk over to his bedroom window and gaze out over the city lights surrounding the Avengers tower, the muscles in his jaw tightening in thought. Something that Loki was quite used to seeing.  
"How did she get it to leave?"  
"I don't know, Thor, I didn't ask. I have a feeling that even if I did ask she wouldn't know."  
"Well we need to find out what exactly happened and why a frost giant was attacking Piper in the first place."  
Suddenly he felt a tightening in his gut as he realized what his brother was going to say next.  
"Nooo. Thor, no. You're not going to suggest that we-"  
"We need to take her to see father, Loki."  
Thor stared Loki down from across the room extracting a heavy sigh from the trickster God. He knew his brother was right. The All Father knew things and had resources that could answer all of their questions, and maybe even some questions that Piper had about herself. But going home would mean much more for Loki than anyone else. Odin would see how Loki truly felt about the girl and would question it, no doubt. Things were about to get a little more complicated.  
"Well...shit."


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter Four  
Steve was on his way back to his room from a early morning run when he saw Loki standing at Thor's door. What could he possibly want from his brother this early? He didn't know much about Loki's sleep habits but he knew that Thor usually slept in till almost 9am and it was only almost 4am now. He stopped at the end of the dark hallway trying not to eavesdrop but he couldn't stop himself from listening once he heard Pipers name.  
"Piper was attacked tonight by a frost giant."  
He could hear the urgency in Loki's voice just before Thor jerked him into his room. Clearly the brothers knew something that the rest of the team did not. What was a frost giant? Was Piper ok? With the realization that if Loki was the one who found her then she was most likely improperly cared for, he ran to the other side of the floor to get to her room. Steve pounded on the door impatiently, with no reply. Again Steve rapped on the door and waited for a reply and when he didn't receive one he lifted his right foot and kicked the door in, looking for any sign of Piper or anybody else. When he saw none he turned to flip on the light and look around the room. Nobody. He searched through the entire room and bathroom. Piper wasn't there. In mad frustration he strode angrily across the floor back to Thor's room where he didn't even bother to knock. He burst through the door and went straight for Loki, who had quite the look of boring surprise on his face. Smug jerk. He was halfway across the room before he was stopped short by Thor stepping in front of him with both hands up in front of his chest.  
"Steve, what's wrong?"  
"Where is she, Loki? Where's piper?"  
Loki tipped his head to the side questionably and furrowed his brows at Steve. Thor stepped to the side a little and looked between Steve and Loki.  
"I heard what you said about her being attacked so I went to check on her and nobody answered so I took a look inside and she wasn't there. So let me ask you again. Where is she?"  
After a labored sigh from the trickster and an angry glare, he finally resigned to answering the captain.  
"She's in my room sleeping."  
Thor's head snapped towards his brother and Steve couldn't tell if there was anger or surprise in Thor's eyes.  
"Did you really expect me to let her go back to her own room after she was attacked? Would you rather I have done that? Maybe whoever it was that showed up before could come back and finish whatever job they started."  
Loki shrugged nonchalantly and looked back at the two men expectantly. Thor sighed and looked back at Steve apologetically.  
"Steve, will you go get Piper from my idiotic brothers room? We will go wake the others, we need to speak with them."  
"You got it, oh and it might be best to wake Tony first so he can get some coffee in him first."  
Steve walked out of the room leaving Loki complaining to Thor saying something about inviting others into a room that wasn't his. He didn't pay much attention to them. He was focused more on if Piper was ok. As she got to Loki's room he found himself a bit nervous. When he had put her hand to his chest before he liked the feeling of it. He knocked on the door and listened carefully. Nothing. He slowly opened the door to peek inside and he saw her lying there on Loki's lavishly large bed. He felt a pang of jealousy run through him at the sight. Cautiously he strode over to the side of the bed and sat on the edge looking carefully at her. He knew that he had to wake her but she looked so peaceful.  
With an outstretched hand he stroked her cheek with the back of his fingers causing a small sleepy whimper escape from Piper. She was so beautiful, and she had this attitude about her that was different from everybody else. He had never seen this in anyone else except for Peggy. They both had a fire in them that couldn't be snuffed out by anything. She was hard, but soft at the same time. He wasn't sure what the deepest part of her was. It was clear to him that she had been through so much in her past. He wanted to know everything about her. He wanted to know how she became who she was. It was an odd feeling for him.  
He remembered being a small skinny kid growing up in Brooklyn wanting to find a special kind of woman like this to love, to protect.  
Steve laid his palm to rest against her hair and watched her quietly with a small smile as she began to stir. He lightly jerked his hand away in embarrassment as she opened her eyes slightly.  
"Steve?"  
She blinked a few more times and brought her hands up to rub the sleep from her eyes before she sat straight up in surprise.  
"Steve?! What are you doing here? Where's Loki?"  
At the sound of her asking for him he felt heat raise up his neck in annoyance.  
"He's with Thor. They told me about what happened last night. You should have woken me up and told me..."  
"Oh Loki is SO dead!"  
Piper threw the blanket aside and sprung out of bed in anger. She managed to stomp only a couple feet before her knees buckled underneath her. Steve shot out with his arms and caught her before she could fall and held her a few inches from the ground. Piper looked up at him in surprise and a slight red flooded her pale face.  
"Piper are you ok?"  
"I-I'm ok I think...im sorry that you had to catch me again..."  
"No, no that's quite alright...I'm glad that I can help you."  
They were frozen that way, only inches apart, Steve holding her just barely a foot from the floor. Piper could feel his warmth radiating from him, his strong arms holding her with such sureness.  
"Steve?"  
"Yah?"  
"Can you, maybe stand me back up now?"  
He blinked in confusion for a moment before realization and a blush crossed his face.  
"Oh, Oh yah, I'm sorry. Haha."  
Piper giggled in amusement and stood upright returning to her normal state of mind and remembering what she was doing before she fell.  
"Where is he, Steve? Where's Loki?"  
Steve saw the sudden anger cross her features and knew that he should probably calm her down but he was very curious as to what she was planning to do to Loki when she got to him. His inner argument was short lived before he decided to just let it play out.  
"We are supposed to meet them in the main room so he should be there by now."  
"Them? Who? You know what? Never mind. I don't care, he's dead either way."  
Piper began to storm out of the room.  
"Piper, hold on. Maybe you should-"  
She stopped in the doorway swinging on her heels to meet his gaze with fire in her eyes.  
"Never mind."  
She turned and stormed out of Loki's room with an anger radiating from her that would even make the Hulk stand down. Steve jogged out of the room to follow Piper to the main room.  
There was no way he was going to miss seeing this.


	6. UPDATE

Hey guys, im sorry for the year away, i had a baby and will soon be resuming my author duties. love you all!


	7. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

I can't believe he told them! ugh! I must have really been out of it to not notice that he lied to me. I guess whatever hit me, hit me pretty hard; my head was pounding but I was beyond seething with anger and Loki was about to find out just how angry I was.

Piper all but stomped into the main area where she barely even noticed the rest of the avengers sitting around, waiting. She stopped at the mouth of the room just long enough to zero in on Loki's back as he stood talking to Thor about something in the far corner of the room. She scanned the room for something to hit him with and was about to give up and just slap him bare handed when she saw a slightly dinged up lower arm from one of Tony's Iron Man suits. She saw Tony sitting next to it with a steaming cup of black coffee as she strode up beside him.

"Tony, is this thing functioning?"

"Mhm, just needs the metal plating replaced."

Tony didn't even look at her as he answered, he just sat there groggily looking distantly into his coffee cup. Piper stuck her right hand into the arm and started to walk towards Loki as the arm tightened to fit her perfectly. Luckily Thor hadn't noticed her as she crossed the seating area.

"Loki!"

Piper yelled his name without stopping and Thor looked up with wide eyes as Loki turned to face her. Piper took the last two steps and took her iron clad arm and swung a hard-right hook across Loki's face causing him to soar across the room, crashing into the large cocktail bar. The sound of wood splintering and glass crashing against the floor filled the room. Loki lifted his head after a moment in surprise and lifted a finger to his lip to wipe a bit of blood away.

"You, me, kitchen, now!"

The entire room watched Piper with wide eyes and jaws on the floor as she walked back over to Tony and dropped the suit arm back on the table next to him and continued to head for the kitchen. Thor stifled a giggle as he looked back as a frozen in surprise Loki had yet to move from his spot amongst the rubble that used to be a cocktail bar. Wanda and Vision looked between Piper and Loki with expressionless faces. Clint and Natasha craned their heads from the couch to look over to Loki in bold amusement, Steve beamed in the corner of the room looking proud and surprised at Pipers actions. Bruce quietly backed to the far wall of the room as he focused a bit too hard on whatever gadget he had in his hands and Tony was sitting upright in his chair, suddenly awake and the only one able to say anything.

"Yah, I think she should stay here. Regardless of what happens to Reindeer Games over there."

How dare she. How dare she treat him like this. He was a God. She was nothing more than some _mortal_ with a dull useless gift. She had absolutely no right to hit him, no matter how impressive it was.

Loki was absolutely frozen with astonishment as a scarlet flood creeped up his face.

"Loki...have care how you act. You did after all break your word to the young maiden."

Thor chuckled as he gave his warning, making him look even more like an idiot than before.

Loki calmed himself as he came to the understanding that she did have a right to her anger. He knew she would have been upset but he had no idea just how angry she would get. He was quite shocked and inquisitive as to where such anger came from; when she first showed up at the tower, he had assumed she was just another fragile thing. Especially after she had fallen into his arms after mistaking his room for hers. The fact that she had such anger in her was almost an attractive trait.

Loki knew that if he let the others see him walk to the kitchen that he'd be humiliated amongst them, but at least then they'd quit treating him like an idiot. He wasn't sure which one was worse. Amongst his confused thoughts he and the rest of the room flinched as a shout came from the enclosed kitchen.

"LOKI NOW!"

The crimson shade returned to Loki's face as his anger returned.

"What an annoying little quim."

Loki mumbled the insult to himself as he rose to his feet and strode angrily toward the kitchen, ignoring everybody in his frustration. He stormed into the kitchen and looked at Piper with ruby eyes.

"What the fuck is wrong wi-"

Loki cut short her rant as he put a hand to her throat and roughly pushed her against the wall causing the glass cups in the cupboard next to her head shake and clatter against each other; the tinkling sound would have been beautiful under better circumstances. He didn't want to do this to her...but he had to. It wasn't safe for him to have any feelings toward this mortal woman. Not for him or Piper. He had to scare her away from him, even just being friends would be treacherous. He had to terrify her.

With a final decision he lifted his illusion magic to reveal his true self. His eyes flooded with a deep crimson, making Pipers eyes go wide with fear. Loki's skin turned a deep Aegean blue and freezing cold to the touch. He bore his eyes into hers summoning as much hatred as he could muster.

"Don't ever strike me again, if you do, I will make you wish for death. You presume we are friends? We aren't friends. You're just an annoying little creature that's forced to follow me around. You mean nothing to me."

He squeezed his hand around her throat a little harder to make sure she got the entire message. He hated doing this, the words he spat at her burned his throat like acid was poured into his mouth. Pipers eyes looked at him in morbid fear, begging him to let her go. But he wouldn't let her go until he knew she was completely cured of this fondness of him.

"You think I'd keep my word to _you_? I don't even keep my word to my own family. You're nothing special. The only reason I ever showed you any kindness at all is because you remind me of Frigga. It's her memory that has saved you from my hatred and cruelty thus far, and now that memory has served its time and is gone. You will no longer be spared from me."

As he spit his venomous words he leaned in close, letting his crimson eyes deepen their color. Pipers eyes began to overflow with tears, and she squeezed them shut. He did it, he broke her. Good. It was better for everybody this way. Loki released her throat letting his eyes and skin return to their normal tones and her knees buckled leaving her a pile of sobbing tears on the kitchen floor. He forced himself to turn away from the heartbreaking sight and walk out of the kitchen back into the main room where the others glared at him in anger. Any hatred they felt for him he felt for himself and more; Piper didn't deserve this. He knew she had been hurt so badly in the past; he could see it in her eyes. He wished he could know what had happened to her that hurt her so badly but he couldn't allow himself the luxury.

Out of the corner of his eye he saw Piper run from the kitchen and down the hallway. Loki simply smiled for good measure. Steve turned to walk out of the room to follow her.

"I wouldn't even bother with that."

Steve simply glared at him before turning and following Piper.

Loki sighed and strode confidently back to his room. As he walked through the hall, he looked for Steve only to not find him anywhere in the hallway. Maybe she did let him in to comfort her. The thought of him holding her while she cried because of him was enough to make Loki sick to his stomach. He ducked quickly into his room and locked the door. He didn't want anybody thinking they needed to barge into his room to scold him for how he treated her. He was scolding himself enough for the entire building. It was for the best in the end though. She shouldn't feel any kindness towards him, no fondness or intimacy. He didn't deserve such kindness and she deserved something better than he could ever be. He was always so effortless in his act he put forward to show everybody else. Most of the time it was easy to act like he didn't care, and truthfully, he did think that they were all beneath him. But there was something about this woman that brought out the true emotions in him and he didn't like that. It frightened him, not that he would ever admit that outside of his own mind. On top of everything else the danger that having any kind of relationship with her was proved just by a frost giant finding its way into her room last night.

Loki fell back onto his bed and pulled a pillow over his face and groaned into it. Quickly he pulled the pillow off his face in surprise. The morning had been so eventful that he had forgotten that she slept here in his bed. The pillows and blanket smelled like her, why hadn't he noticed it before? How could he have missed that? Sitting up with the pillow in his hand he waved his hand over the bed, using his illusion magic to reappear the sight of her in his bed. The sight brought an almost erotic feeling over him. Not good. He let the magic fade, leaving the empty bed in its wake. Easing back down into the bed Loki rolled to his side and hugged the pillow to his chest, inhaling the sweet scent of water lilies and fresh rain, and pulled his phone out of his back pocket.

Tony was annoyingly persistent that they all had each other's cell numbers for whatever reason, truthfully, he didn't care but this time he was both grateful and resentful. He pulled up Pipers number and opened a new message to her, but when he went to type something, he couldn't think of anything that he could say that would be either appropriate or helpful, so he shut the phone off and closed his eyes.

"What attacked her? A frost troll?" asked Peter from the couch excitedly.

After Loki and Piper had left the room, Thor had filled the others in on what had happened to Piper the night before. He had explained to them all how she was attacked, and Loki had cared for her cut head and put her safely in his room to sleep. They had all looked quite surprised at hearing about how kind Loki had been to Piper, but it was short lived as the worry and alertness returned to them all over the new recruit to the little dysfunctional family they had built.

"Frost _Giant_." Thor corrected the energetic boy tiresomely as he stood in front of the group seemingly indifferent to the situation.

The sun was starting to rise over the city and a soft orange glow illuminated the deep indigo night. The Avengers all seemed to wake up a bit more now that the sun was rising and they all had questions over the incident.

 _"What's a Frost Giant?"_

 _"Where are they from?"_

 _"Why are they attacking Piper?"_

 _"How did they even get into the building"_

Thor crossed his arms and started to answer the questions one by one and tried to do so as calmly as possible. After answering the barrage of questions, he gently explained to the group that he and Loki would be taking Piper with them back to Asguard, their home realm, to get the answers they needed. Thor didn't know how long they would be gone nor did he know how Odin would react to this situation either. This did not make some of them happy at all. Natasha started to argue that she didn't think it was the best idea, Wanda stood from her seat and demanded that she go as well. After explaining to Wanda that that was not possible and that Odin would just barely allow one mortal through the Bifrost, and only with good reasoning, she slumped back into her seat next to Vision.

"That does seem like the best course of action." Tony stated calmly.

The entire room went silent as they turned to look at him in surprise. Tony was usually the one who liked to do things the hard way. He liked to keep the 'family' close together. He was almost like the unspoken father of the group and everyone was surprised that he'd send his new favorite child off to another realm with the two adopted kids, especially when one of them was well known for being a mischievous trickster. Who knows what would happen while they were gone?

"Well, think about it." Tony stood and started to speak to the room. "They're the only ones who know about these Frost Giants. They have knowledge there that we would never have. It would only make sense that they'd take her so she could know for herself what's going on with herself. She deserves to know."

With that the room slowly agreed with him, taking their time deciding if he was right or just crazy.

"Wow. Nobody's arguing with me? I think I died and went to heaven." Tony smirked and walked out of the room and went off to find Piper.


End file.
